The Art of Subtlety
by ReginaCaelum
Summary: Honestly, she kind of expected Matsumoto to train him better. Asking a girl out is NOT that hard. For Glowing Blue. TouRin, kind of AU one-shot


**Disclaimer: disclaimed**

A short little gift for **Glowing Blue,** who always leaves the most kind reviews, even when I'm a horrible reviewer for her fabulous stories. Check out Armistice if you like HitsuKarin; it's great! Thank you, my lovely, I hope you like this short little oneshot.

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><p>Karin was awoken from her light sleep with loud knocks on her front door. Mumbling about how much she hated studying, the vice-captain wearily raised her head and plodded forward, rubbing sleep from her eyes. When she opened her door her grouchy expression immediately vanished at who awaited her. "Hey there," she said, smiling.<p>

Toushirou did not look so relaxed. Actually, he looked downright terrified. After a moment of silence he swallowed and choked out, "Hi." He tried to jerk his arm away from his companion, but to no avail.

Next to him, Matsumoto was smiling so brightly it looked like her face would explode. "Hiya, Karin-chan!" Her death grip on the captain's arm tightened as if in warning.

Karin who had long given up trying to understand the odd super-rebellious subordinate-slash-sister-brother-slash-mother-son-slash-best friend relationship the two Tenth Division leaders had, raised a dark eyebrow. "Would you like to come in?" she asked hesitatingly.

A weak, whimper-like sound emitted from Toushirou's throat but his energetic friend chattered right over him. "Wow, that's so nice of you, Karin-chan! Come on, taichou!" Weakly, the white-haired man allowed himself to be dragged inside. Karin followed cautiously.

Almost immediately after Toushirou stepped over her threshold the two taller shinigami began a heated whisper-debate, so she tidied up her table while they finished. She was preparing for the captain's exam, so besides the extra training she had to put in to increase her time she could spend in bankai, the middle Kurosaki child had to know Seritei's laws inside and out. During her endless hours of studying that felt far too reminiscent of her days in the academy she'd learned that the soutaichou could not be nearly as much of a hardass as reputed to be other, otherwise he would've prevented some of the old laws. Take the "dress code" for example. Karin didn't know one shinigami, especially the higher-ranking ones, who didn't have something personal (besides their zanpaktou) on them at all times.

"Well, it's been fun, Karin-chan!" Matsumoto's loud, bubbly voice broke Karin out of her thoughts. The other vice-captain flounced to the door, calling behind her, "Sorry I have to run, but I have, uh, paperwork to do!" With one last piercing look at Toushirou she bounded out the door, her strawberry blonde hair trailing behind her.

Bemused, Karin answered, "Bye." The door shut soundly and she turned to her other guest. "What was that about?"

"Just Matsumoto beind Matsumoto," Toushirou muttered in irritation.

Karin chuckled. "So what's up?"

The captain tensed up again. "Well," he started, then swallowed. "I'm a captain now."

After a moment of silence, she replied dryly, "Really now. I never would've guessed. It's not like the haori was too obvious or anything…"

He flushed. "Well, I know that we haven't been able to train very often lately."

Karin rolled her eyes. "Is that what this is about? You feel guilty about not spending time with me? Look, I understand, and it's okay. I know how much responsibility you have now, and—"

"Would you like to go train with me?" Toushirou interrupted.

The Kurosaki beamed. "I'd love to! Hold on a sec; I've gotta grab Kaguya." She disappeared briefly, only to reappear with her sheathed katana tucked into her belt. "Let's go!"

A still-fidgeting Toushirou opened the door for her. "Chill out, Toushirou," Karin joked, "You'd think you just asked me out."

Half a second later she froze in place, eyes closed in exasperation. "Oh," she muttered, "Oh, please no."

Behind her, Toushirou grimaced, already planning his lecture for Matsumoto and _why _she should _not _meddle. Ever.

"Did you _really _just ask me to train as a _date?" _she demanded, spinning around to glare.

Toushirou was frozen. "…Yes?" he offered weakly, looking helpless.

Her face tightened in annoyance. "I don't even…" she muttered to herself, then sighed. "Okay, here's how this is gonna work," she announced abruptly, "We're going to go train, where you will _not _go easy on me. Then _you _are going to treat me to dinner." After pausing a moment, she hastily tacked on, "A _nice _dinner."

The captain nodded mutely, then watched with a mixture of trepidation and elation as Karin whirled again and stalked off; still grumbling to herself (he caught the phrase "Matsumoto should've trained him better"). When she disappeared into a brief flash step, he allowed himself a quick grin before following.

He had a date.

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><p>God knows that would actually happen. But we love our boy anyway, don't we? :3<p>

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